A network switch may be a mechanical, electrical, or electronic device that opens or closes circuits, completes or breaks an electrical path, or selects paths of circuits. A switch may operate at Layers 1 and 2 of the Open Systems Interconnection (“OSI”) model, with an emphasis on Layer 2. A switch may examine incoming data (such as voice data, computer data, or other type of data) to determine a destination address. Based on that address, the switch may establish a transmission path through a switching matrix between incoming and outgoing physical communications ports and links.
A network switch may include a “switching fabric.” The term “switching fabric” refers to the component at the heart of a data communications switch that allows any input port to send data to any output port. Although there are many different types of switching fabrics available, one of the more common switching fabrics is a “crossbar” switching fabric. A crossbar switching fabric may include a matrix of rows and columns, where each row is connected to an input and each column is connected to an output port. A switch, or “crosspoint,” may be located at each intersection between a row and column. By closing the crosspoints, each input port can be connected to each output port.
However, there are limitations to the use of switching fabrics. One such limitation is speed. Depending on the composition of the switching fabric and the connections within, the switching fabric may limit the speed at which data travels through the network switch. Another limitation is cost. Depending on the number of input ports and output ports, the cost to build a compatible or desirable switching fabric may increase substantially to accommodate the possible number of connections.
As networking speeds have increased, the desire for high-speed network switches have also increased. As mentioned above, a network switch that relies on a switching fabric may impact the speed at which a network operates. Thus, a network switch may be configured where the input ports are directly directed to output ports. That is, the network switch may forego a switching fabric and instead, embed data connections between input and output ports within a printed circuit board housed within the network switch. While this solution may achieve desirable data rates, the network switch is no longer configurable. Thus, a high-speed network switch, where the data connections are embedded within the printed circuit board, is difficult to use in an environment that requires the high-speed network switch to be configurable.